McMartin: The dancing life of Jesula McCallum

Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun06.19.2012

Jesula was a medal-bearer in the 25th Ann. Rich Hansen Relay last month. Jesula McCallum, 10 years old and formerly a Haitian orphan, lives in Chilliwack. She recently competed in the World Irish Dancing Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
/ Vancouver Sun

Jesula McCallum placed second in a local competition iwho lives in Chilliwack. She recently competed in the World Irish Dancing Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
/ Vancouver Sun

Jesula was a medal-bearer in the 25th Ann. Rich Hansen Relay last month. Jesula McCallum, 10 years old and formerly a Haitian orphan, lives in Chilliwack. She recently competed in the World Irish Dancing Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
/ Vancouver Sun

Jesula McCallumat the Western Canadian Oireachtas (Regional) in Nov, 2011 in Edmonton - she got 2nd place. McCallum, 10 years old and formerly a Haitian orphan, lives in Chilliwack. She recently competed in the World Irish Dancing Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
/ Vancouver Sun

Jesula McCallum at the Western Canadian Oireachtas (Regional) in Nov, 2011 in Edmonton - she got 2nd place. McCallum, 10 years old and formerly a Haitian orphan, lives in Chilliwack. She recently competed in the World Irish Dancing Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
/ Vancouver Sun

Jesula McCallum at her first Nationals competition in Nashville, age 7. McCallum, 10 years old and formerly a Haitian orphan, lives in Chilliwack. She recently competed in the World Irish Dancing Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
/ Vancouver Sun

Related

In last weekend’s edition of Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, there was a two-page colour photo spread of contestants at the World Irish Dancing Championships. The event was held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in March.

The eight contestants in the photos were all 10-, 11- and 12-year-old girls, and seven of the girls seemed to be of a type: bewigged and heavily made up. They looked miserable, and uncomfortable with what the photographer seemed to be suggesting was their prepubescent sexualization: reluctant Lolitas.

The photo of the eighth girl, 10-year-old Jesula McCallum, of Chilliwack, was different. Jesula was the only girl smiling. She wore a bright orange, white and black costume, and a small curly wig that sat atop her head in a bun. She still, however, managed to look like a 10-year-old girl.

She was also — incongruously, it has to be said, given that this was an Irish dancing competition — black.

“I think,” Jesula said, “I was the only black girl dancing at the championships.”

In another earlier life — five years ago — Jesula was a Haitian orphan. She had been placed in the orphanage when she was 10 days old.

Then Kelly McCallum showed up. A Fraser Valley veterinarian, and a single mother with her own birth daughter, McCallum was looking to adopt a child.

“I always knew I wanted to adopt,” McCallum said. “I always envisioned myself adopting a child even when I was young. I’m not sure why I chose Haiti, but I found an organization that I trusted, and I just got a sense it would work out for me.”

It did, spectacularly so. In the orphanage, she found Jesula, who was then five. She was the oldest of 63 children there.

“The people who ran the orphanage,” Kelly said, “said she loved music and ran like the wind.”

Jesula spoke Creole at the time. Now, the only inflection her English has is that of a typical 10-year-old. She giggles a lot and seems extravagantly happy. She swims competitively, runs track and field and, as a hobby, shows purebred cats.

“She’s a pretty gregarious kid,” McCallum said.

“I get in trouble for talking in school,” Jesula said. “My friends sit beside me in class, and I talk to them a lot.”

It was her older sister, Hannah, now 17, who introduced her to Irish dance.

“Hannah had done Irish dance for about nine or 10 years,” McCallum said, “and she had been really big into it. So when Jesula came along, she tried it and she was really good.”

“I practise hard,” Jesula said, “and I have a lot of energy. I feel happy when I dance, and I like to perform in front of people.”

Her costumes, made in Ireland, can cost from $1,500 to $3,000 new. She takes classes twice a week, with her mother driving her into Metro Vancouver from Chilliwack.

“I like the costumes and the complicated routines. I like the trophies and the travelling; it’s really fun. And I meet a lot of kids.”

In B.C., she is the best in her age group. She qualified for the world championships by coming second in Western Canada and seventh in North America. Of the 129 girls she competed against in Belfast, she came in 46th — one position away from advancing to the third round.

“For the first round, I was really nervous, but for the second, it felt really normal. When I found out I missed the third round by one point, I was really happy because I decided I was going to work harder for next year’s championships.”

Why the New York Times Magazine photographer chose to photograph Jesula at the championships was never explained, but the results left McCallum with a feeling of ambivalence.

“He was just sort of grabbing people as we walked by, and taking as many people’s pictures as he could. Jesula liked her picture, but she was a little surprised at the other pictures. She didn’t understand [the import] of them, I think.

“But the girls are on a huge stage when they compete, and their faces disappear if they aren’t wearing makeup. They aren’t like beauty pageant kids. We tried putting makeup on Jesula but it sort of disappeared with her complexion. So when she competes on stage, Jesula’s appearance is fairly age-appropriate.”

Jesula now has a third sibling. Three years ago, McCallum adopted another Haitian girl, Maudeline, who is 13. All three girls, McCallum said, are busy with classes and reading voraciously.

“A couple of years ago,” McCallum said, “the dog chewed up our TV cable and we never bothered to replace it. So we never watch TV. The girls spend their time reading, instead.”

As for her future, Jesula plans to take after her mother, in a way.

“I love animals,” Jesula said, “but I’d rather work with humans. I want to be a medical doctor, and I’d like to go to Haiti and work with people there, too.”

In less than a week, Abbotsford recording artists Hedley went from touring Canada with two supporting acts and a popular new album to pariahs ensnared in allegations of sexual misconduct. On Monday, accusations that band members Jacob Hoggard, Dave Rosin, Tommy Mac and Jay Benison had engaged in sexual behaviour with teenage girls surfaced on Twitter […]

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